Vista - Vaio - Sony - Does Sony give a ****?

[Adendum]

It seems like Sony have given up on my problem...and yours too? Is it just me that can't get any response from Sony Technical Support?

My tale of woe:-
I have an 18-24month old VGN-AR21S, a big beasty with Blue Ray DVD, TV tuner, magic eye cam and a load of buttons that all boys like to have....but not any more! It shipped with XP Media Centre Edition and up until a month ago it was a faultless bit of equipment but bit by bit it has fallen apart, due entirely to a horrid combination of software problems.

Originally I just lost my bluetooth connection to my Nokia N73 and Nokia's solution was to reinstall the bluetooth stack but in the process of updating this Windows Update installed SP3...and then it all went bad and the system became totally unstable and gave me the blue screen of death whenever the processors were pushed over 10-15%...so pretty much all the time.

Not a problem, I thought, I'll do a Windows system restore. Ha! 95% of the way into the restore the system hung, forcing me to power off. On re-boot I had no keyboard! Not a problem, I thought, I'll do the Sony recovery. Ha..not without a keyboard you wont! Had to install a new OS on drive D:\ to allow me to access the keyboard and then boot and do the Sont Recovery!!! That worked fine but then you have to download almost 2 years worth of Windows updates and all your application updates. But the trouble is that automatically dumps SP3 on the system too....back to square one!

Not a problem, I thought, I'll take advantage of the situation and install Vista. Ha!

You already know where I'm going with this huh? Yeah, Vista Ultimate 32bit with SP1 was installed to a clean machine. The latest BIOS was installed and then I followed the instructions word for word from the Sony Support site and installed all the drivers, Utils and various Sony apps and low and behold I almost have a laptop...........

No magic eye cam, no TV tuner, can't open the DVD drive using the supplied hardware button, none of the other buttons work except for the volume button and Sony Technical support are about as useful as a chocolate teapot!! Being a working tools that allows me to earn my living I can't **** about too long and to be frank I am not 100% sure the problems listed are all of the problems as I just don't have the time to play around with it these days....I have a living to earn.

I spent last night (22/10/2008) reading all 21 pages of this thread and, of course, I commiserate with all of you guys out there but the common theme that appears to run through this thread is that we are all alone and Sony couldn't give a flying **** about any of us.

I have a £2500 bit of equipment, advertised as Vista capable, and I left the Vista install well over a year so the bugs were ironed out (by MS and Sony) so I really didn't expect this situation. Yeah the system works fine (using it now) but besides the missing hardware I have numerous issues with Sony apps and utils the appear to be half non-functional and Sony don't seem to want to bother.

So what do I do? Do I persevere? Or do I bit the bullet and take the word of the Apple Shop people that a Macbook Pro is vastly superior and runs virus free, allows dual boot to Leopard or XP/Vista and will be fully supported by people who care?

Yeah, I'm venting. Wouldn't you? I'm that close to dumping a nice bit of kit and revoking my 20 year Sony custom (TV's, HiFi, copmuters etc etc) but I'm just one person.

My questions are (a) is there a solution to the Vista problem, (b) why should any of us stay with Sony in light of their disregard for their customers and (c) are there any other hardcore PC people that have switched to Apple and does the Apple kit do what they want it to do? And (d) does it really take more than 2 weeks to answer an email?

Oh well...feel a little better for that. And closer to Apple that earlier too! 😞

Paul.

[Adendum]

I guess no one does!

[Blencogo]

I'm not quite sure what you are asking for?

If you would like help, please ask specific questions. If you just want to moan then don't expect a reply.

Unless you had a hardware fault and your keyboard was physically broken, you should have be able to reinstall your original OS by booting from your Recovery Discs or direct from your Recovery Partition by tapping F10 during the boot sequence.

Hundereds of users have successfully installed Vista on the AR21S. As long as you install the Vista Drivers and Utilities, this should not be a big problem. Sony have supplied a Vista version of WinDVD BD but you will have lost all other preinstalled software - that is your choice if you install another OS.

The camera, TV and special buttons should all be fixable. Tell us what you have tried and the current symptoms and we can try to fix these issues - but we need your help.

Moaning may make you feel better but it won't get the job fixed!!

[gokhanakca]

you are wrong.

[Adendum]

Blencogo, many thanks for taking the time to respond. Gokhanakca, I wish I was but the Sony tech support response has been feeble to say the least.

OK, so you want specifics:- Let's recap:-

A Windows system restore hung during the restore forcing me to install another versions of XP on the second drive - merely to enable me to backup my data files to a USB drive. No problems here and data was backed up.

I then proceeded to use the Sony Recovery process using F10 and again no problem as such. Other than Windows requiring to update itself with 18+ months of updates BUT this included SP3 which was the reason I was doing the Windows system Restore in the first place. So going back to the factory settings is/was a waste of time. Thus the purchase of Vista Ultimate 32bit.

Before I installed Vista I downloaded ALL the 32bit Vista files from the support site AND updated the AR21S bios using the same web page. And the sequence of installs went as follows:-

Vista Ultimate,
Drivers from the 32bit set,
Sony Utils from the same download,
Sony Shared Library,
Setting Utility Series,
VAIO Event Service,
VAIO Control Center,
VAIO Action Setup,
VAIO Power Management,
Battery Checker,
AV Mode Button,
Appmon,
Instant Mode,
VAIO Camera Utility,
Wireless Switch Setting

And then I installed whatever other Sony applications that were missing.

I confess I am unsure what status all these installs finished on as I was/am still unfamiliar with Vista but as far as I am aware they completed. Saying that I have had several other attempts since and they either start the install and nothing appears to happen or the install completes but nothing changes until after a reboot OR I get an error message at the installation start saying the INF file is not supported (for the original XP drivers).

As it stands now I have a working Vaio but the following are problems:-

1. The supplied Bluetooth stack does not allow my Nokia phone to communicate, whereas the Vista supplied bluetooth stack is OK. Therefore I am using the Vista bluetooth stack and have none of the bluetooth applications supplied with the Vaio...but I can live with that.

2. Device Manager - in Other devices - has exclamation marks against 6 devices. 3 x Bluetooth peripheral devices and I have no idea what they are and drivers are not installed, 1 x Mass storage Controller (probably the Sony stick or Smart card ?) and 2 x Unknown devices - in details one says APCI\SYN5001 and the other says USB\VID_05CA&PID_1834&REV_0100.

3. If I install ANY of the Sony sound drivers I have no sound. Therefore I have updated the driver for the SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec via update driver button in Device Manager. On booting the volume is always muted and the Vaio mute button does not work, therefore to get sound I have to click the volume icon in the system tray to un-mute.

4. Device Manager shows my disk drive as "Volume()" and no other details appear, therefore I suspect the drivers have not installed correctly.

5. Device Manager shows my BlueRay DVD as a Matshita BD-MLT UJ-210S ATA Device but I am unable to open the drive with the eject button and have to use a software switch using the SideBar.

6. I can't remember if the Motion Eye camera ever appeared in Device Manager on XP but I can't see it in Vista and no camera applications can see it either. When I attempt to install the XP cameras drivers VGP-VGGC2 I get "The INF file you selected does not support this method of installation" (When I right click and choose Install. There are no .exe files so how else can you install them?

7. Control Panlel has acquired an applet related to sound that I have no idea where it came from or what it's for but it is a Sony applet called **IDS_ASIO_SETASIO_DIALOG. Any ideas - see attached (no idea how to attach an image!!)?

8. VAIO Control Centre is 50% or more inoperable. Bass Boost, Monitor Off Button Setting, Printer Port, S Button and Touch panle do not launch, Wireless Switch setting only shows WiFi now and no Bluetooth options are available, AV Mode button and Logo lamp buttons launch but the settings have no effect.

9. The hardware buttons in the laptop S1, S2, DVD Eject, AV Mode no longer function. Volume + and - and mute do work. I have no idea if the TV tuner works as it's not connected.

10. All attempts to install WinDVD_BD fail as it is looking for an earlier version. Which I assume is why I no longer have Click to DVD software and maybe why the Sonic Studio software is missing?

Other than that it's running like a dream!

Specific enough?

Paul.

[Blencogo]

Specific enough?

Yes thank you Paul.

That's quite a list. I doubt if I have time to have a go at all of them tonight - perhaps we can do it by installments!! In no particular order: -

10. To install WinDVD BD go to the Vista Downoad page for your model here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&c=-1&s=-1&m=2418&os...

and download the installer version of WinDVD BD 100 followed by all the updates since inception: -

Intervideo WinDVD BD 8.0.8.100
InterVideo WinDVD BD 8.0.8.416_2
InterVideo WinDVD BD 8.0.8.425_3
WinDVD BD 8.0 - 8.0.9.429_2

2, 3 & 6. Many drivers shown as uninstalled in Device Manager can only be installed by the "Have Disc" method.

Download all the drivers from the download site shown above and extract the files to one folder say C:\Drivers. For every device not installed in Device Manager, do the following and point the installer to C:\Drivers: -

a. In Device Manager find the device you want to install (with an error) and double click on it.
b. Go to Driver tab and select Update Driver.
c. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
d. Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
e. Select Have Disk....
f. Select Browse....
g. Select the extracted driver folder (C:\Drivers?). Find the correct *inf file in the folder if you know it - if not just point to the driver folder C:\Drivers and let the installer search all the folders for a suitable driver.
h. You should now see name of your device if you have done the previous steps correct.
i. Click Next to continue.

You will probably find the camera listed as an unknown USB device. Find it in Device Manager and point the installer to C:\Drivers\Camera\VGP-VCC2\5U8736CAP.INF

The Mass Storage Controller is the MemoryStick. Point the installer at C:\Drivers\Memory_Card\ti21SONY.INF

Come back with any that still remain with warnings in Device Manager as you may be a few drivers short and need to download them from the AR31S site.

4. Device Manager reporting your disc drives as Volume (0) is correct. Your two disc drives are configured in RAID 0 - your Vaio writes to two discs at once to double the read.write speed. If you want to look at the properties of your drives individually you will need to download and install the 'Intel Matrix Storage Manager' from the Intel download site. This will have been installed on your AR21S originally.

Intel Matrix Storage Manager

6. Check you have installed the Camera Driver VGP-VCC2 - the Camera will show up as 'Sony Communications Camera VCC2' in Device Manager under Imaging Devices when it is installed correctly. You will also need BOTH these two Utility Programs installed for the Camera to work: -
VAIO Camera Utility
VAIO Camera Capture Utility 2.2.03.11150

Look in C:\Program Files\Sony - are these two installed? You need them both for the camera to work.

My head hurts now - come back with any queries or when you are ready for more.

[Adendum]

 10. To install WinDVD BD .............

First off many thanks for your time - very much appreciated. Are you Sony staff?

OK. Step 10 went OK and I now have WinDVD BD installed, updated, and operational. I feel silly now as I should have started with the earlier version and not the other way round!

So one down....a few to go!

Paul

[Adendum]

 2, 3 & 6.  Many drivers shown as uninstalled in Device Manager can only be installed by the "Have Disc" method.

You will probably find the camera listed as an unknown USB device.  Find it in Device Manager and point the installer to C:\Drivers\Camera\VGP-VCC2\5U8736CAP.INF

The Mass Storage Controller is the MemoryStick.  Point the installer at C:\Drivers\Memory_Card\ti21SONY.INF

This appeared to have worked well.
The unknown device was the camera and the mass storage device was the memory stick.

However the Bluetooth Devices (x3) still did not install, so I uninstalled them and now wish I hadn't. I thought I was safe to do so - expecting Vista to pick up the devices again at boot.

I no longer have Bluetooth! Argghhhh!

At boot the bluetooth lamp is lit immediately and later the WiFi lamp next to it comes on but as soon as Vista gets to the 'Welcome' screen the bluetooth lamp goes out. As Vista completes the boot up it recognises 3 devices and 'installs' something and then looks for drivers for Sony Bluetooth USB adapter but doesn't seem to be able to locate any on the laptop. Device manager doesn't show anything in the list.

So I tried to install the Sony BT set from the site but that can't see the adapter either. So I no longer have the Windows Vista BT stack running or the Toshiba stack.

Feels like one step forward and two steps back!

Any ideas?

Paul.

[Adendum]

4. Device Manager reporting your disc drives as Volume (0) is correct.  Your two disc drives are configured in RAID 0 - your Vaio writes to two discs at once to double the read.write speed.  If you want to look at the properties of your drives individually you will need to download and install the 'Intel Matrix Storage Manager' from the Intel download site.  This will have been installed on your AR21S originally.

Intel Matrix Storage Manager

OK understood. I think Vista drivers have superseded the Sony drivers and if I click update driver from Device Manager and point it to the original AR21S RAID driver folder Vista says I already have the best driver installed. However what I did see an hour or so ago was a little bit disturbing.....it was showing 50 volumes on the system! But since re-booting that has gone.

But it looks like this fix has worked....don't you think?

Paul.

[Adendum]

I no longer have Bluetooth! Argghhhh!

Update: The Sony Wireless switcher NOW has the Bluetooth On/Off setting! And it was OFF so turning it ON makes it kinda work!

Saying that my Nokia software refuses to allow me to use either the 'connections' showing in the config panel (MS and Toshiba) and says "Cannot use connection type. Check that all the needed hardware, software and drivers are available"

I do have "Bluetooth Devices" in Control Panel but that can't see the two devices I would expect it to see immediately - my Nokia N73 mobile phone and the desktop PC sat next to me.

😞

Paul